Ramirez wins Worcester school board seat

WORCESTER — In her second run for School Committee, Hilda Ramirez displaced incumbent Donna Colorio, becoming the first Latino to join the committee.

At a victory party at the Center Bar & Grill surrounded by people speaking both English and Spanish, Ms. Ramirez said that this time, she and her supporters got organized earlier, raised more money and felt they had more community support.

"People were calling me instead of me begging to put a sign on their lawns," she said. "I was thrilled."

Ms. Ramirez is assistant director at the Latino Education Institute at Worcester State University and former executive director of the Worcester Youth Center.

Ms. Colorio, a psychology professor at Quinsigamond Community College, is finishing her first term on the committee.

She said the low voter turnout didn't help her and said Ms. Ramirez had strong backing.

"Hilda had a good campaign, good ground troops," Ms. Colorio said.

She shifted her focus to the future. "When one door closes, another one opens, and I'm a true believer in that," she said. "It will be give me a lot of opportunity to spend some time fighting the Common Core," she said, referring to the curriculum that Massachusetts and a number of other states have adopted.

The rest of the committee members retained their seats. In order of descending number of votes received, they were: Brian A. O'Connell (who has been on the committee since 1984), Jack L. Foley, John F. Monfredo, Dianna L. Biancheria and Tracy O'Connell Novick.

Mayor Joseph M. Petty, who is chairman of the School Committee, was also re-elected.

Two other challengers were not as fortunate as Ms. Ramirez. Robert J. Cohane, co-chairman of the Citywide Parent Planning Advisory Committee, came in behind Ms. Colorio, and Douglas Arbetter, who was finishing his college degree while campaigning, finished last.

Mr. Cohane said he might run again but in the meantime plans to continue his work with CPPAC and advocating for better funding for the city's school system. "I'm not going anywhere," Mr. Cohane said, adding that he wanted to thank everyone who has helped him.

Ms. Novick, who watched the results come in at City Hall with her family and many boxes of pizza, said of Ms. Ramirez, "It'll be great to work with her," noting Ms. Ramirez's long involvement with youth issues.

Ms. Ramirez will take office in January and said she plans to work on early education, parent engagement and involving local museums with the school system.

Contact Jacqueline Reis at jacqueline.reis@telegram.com or follow her on Twitter @JackieReisTG